


Hope It Don’t Rain All Day

by wintercreek



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen, Juvenilia, iconography challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-08-13
Updated: 2003-08-13
Packaged: 2017-10-06 05:00:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wintercreek/pseuds/wintercreek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some days, it was all she could do to breathe. Faith looked around the cheap motel room, down at the threadbare carpet and across at the dingy walls. Stepping in to the bathroom didn't help any; that only replaced the worn look of the outer room with the soiled walls and stained tub. She leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes and forcing a deep breath. <i>Outside,</i> she thought. <i>I have to get outside.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Hope It Don’t Rain All Day

Some days, it was all she could do to breathe. Faith looked around the cheap motel room, down at the threadbare carpet and across at the dingy walls. Stepping in to the bathroom didn't help any; that only replaced the worn look of the outer room with the soiled walls and stained tub. She leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes and forcing a deep breath. _Outside,_ she thought. _I have to get outside._

It was always so easy to step outside, even now. She'd heard the rain from inside the motel, knew that the streets would be deserted as California sun babies ran for cover. Faith was no sun baby, nurtured in the southern warmth; she'd grown up rootless as a tumbleweed. A spurt of envy for Buffy surged at that, and Faith nearly growled aloud. _Damp it down, girl,_ she told herself. Unfair, unfair that the blonde Slayer had everything: home, Watcher, deep and unshakable sense of purpose. Sometimes Faith wondered, if she'd had someone to love her and guide her like that, what would have been different ...

_I would've been afraid of the rain, that's all. And really, a little rain never hurt anyone. Though I hope it don't rain all day._ Faith strode confidently out into the late afternoon, warm rain falling lightly on her face and hair. Still feeling nettled by her jealousy, her unvoiced wish for Buffy's life, she broke into a powerful Slayer's run.

Cars flashed by on her right, parked and docile as Faith streaked past. _Faster ... _ Where to? Turn a corner without rhyme or reason, see where it took her? On an impulse, she decided _yes_ and streaked around a corner. Up ahead was the lake, deserted of course. No picnickers dared the rain. Faster, faster, Faith was a streaking bullet of woman tearing through the trees. At the rim of the lake she dove without breaking stride, sparing only a thought to hope that the lake was deep. Too late now, too late like oh so many other things.

Toned arms crashed through the smooth surface of the lake, dropped her into the sun-heated surface water. _Breaking water and breaking glass are really nothing alike,_ she mused. Still, there was a certain parallel to her impulsive raids on various stores. Here, though, her prize was peace. Peace found at the bottom of a lake.

Hitting the bottom of the lake, Faith dug both her hands into the gritty sand. No hidden treasure, no secret talisman to keep her safe and happy. Flipping over with a Slayer's agile strength, she looked toward the surface where the sunlight rippled. Golden streaks filtered down through the water. Faith kicked off the bottom once and gently rose the rest of the way.

The way the water slid off her face felt like a benediction. Everything fell away for a few moments as she emerged from the lake and came to rest floating on her back. Despite the sunlight she'd noted from beneath the surface, it was still raining. _Sun shower. Huh._

~*~

Some days were harder than others. Faith's eyes flitted from the cheery rag rug near the door to the lone picture on the wall, ensconced above her bed. The bathroom sported a new shower curtain, bright tropical colors a la Walmart. Small improvements, small steps. Leaning back against the wall, she inhaled, choked on the musty air. _Right. Outside now._

Opening the door was easy, hardly an effort at all. The California sun made heat waves rise and ripple off the pavement. People walked the pavement across the street, heading downtown for afternoon shopping, and Faith gazed after them, surprisingly numb. She'd felt a strange unknotting in her chest for the past few weeks; something so subtle that she almost didn't notice it. Sometimes she wondered what exactly was loosening ...

_No matter._ Shaking herself and moving out into the sun, Faith started her now habitual jog. Although she no longer dashed frantically, trying to outrun things she couldn't face, she still moved at a good clip. _Here we go,_ Faith thought as she settled into an easy, ground eating lope.

The cars parked on the side of the street changed every day, but Faith no longer took notice of them. As she neared the corner, she urged herself faster and let habit take over. There was the lake, its banks not crowded but rather speckled with people. Most of them were on the far shore. Faith eyed them, considered her options as she flew toward the lake.

Diving in seemed acceptable. Faith by no means dove in every day, but she did dive in often enough. The few people on the near shore made inarticulate noises as a bit of water hit them, but Faith's dive was clean and relatively little sprayed out. The lake was still just as warm as the first time she'd done this.

_This is the constant in my life. A lake._ Rueful and yet pleased, Faith considered the thought as she swam toward the bottom. It was peaceful, as always, the only sound that of her heartbeat in her ears. Facing upward now, Faith pushed off the bottom and moved again toward the sun dappled surface.

Faith had never learned the words to describe the way she felt, breaking the surface of the water that first time. She was trying now, had learned a few. _Benediction. Tranquility. Balance. Serenity. Zen. Harmony. Blessing._

~*~

Some days, breathing was so easy. The hotel room was still shabby, the bathroom was still stained. The air never lost its musty smell, no matter how long the window stood open.

The people outside remained oblivious to her opening door, her running start toward peace. Rain or shine, Faith ran these days. _Have to, for my sanity._

She knew the cars now. The red Ford, parked near the corner every day but Thursday. The silver Beemer that always looked so car wash fresh. She could find the corner with her eyes closed, knew how many strides to the lake and where the trees grew in the forest.

The people knew her. Faith's daily running dive into the lake caused no alarm in the park now. Her dives grew smoother every day. _Practice making perfect, I guess._

Some times Faith couldn't help but wonder why she did this, why she needed these runs so much. They anchored her in a way that nothing ever had, and she suspected that it was mostly the lake and the trees overhead that called to her. A scrap of melody ran unbidden through her mind. _Oh the water ..._ Eyes opening wide to take in the underwater world, the Slayer realized that she was high on nature.

Rising through the lake water, Faith heard a song this time. Someone on the shore had a radio that crooned a familiar song. _Van Morrison._ Faith smiled. "Hope it don't rain all day."


End file.
